


late-night worries

by elderscrolls



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, also post no compromise dlc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-28 03:37:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18202991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elderscrolls/pseuds/elderscrolls
Summary: Marcus seeks out comfort from Wrench when his doubts hit him particularly hard one night.





	late-night worries

**Author's Note:**

> im just.... soft for them ok. this is just a short little thing i wrote in one go, eventually i may write a continuation of it but for now im calling it a one-shot. sorry for any grammar mistakes / out of character sounding shit / etc

Marcus, to be completely honest, felt like shit right now. On most days he could manage, but today all sorts of feelings were swimming around in him - the guilt that he hadn’t saved Horatio, the fear that if he had another brush with death like his one with Bratva it wouldn’t end so well… He let out a groan, burying his face in the pillow he currently clutched. He had ended up sprawled out on the couch at the hackerspace, not feeling willing to go home; Sitara and Josh were wherever they went when they weren’t at the hackerspace, and only Wrench remained, tinkering with something at his bench. When Marcus groaned, he looked up, his eyes expanding into two large zeros.

“M, you’ve been moping for hours. Do you need something, or..?”

“‘t’s nothing,” Marcus mumbled into the pillow, before starting to form an idea. “Why don’t you ever hug me like you did after Bratva?”

The exclamation marks flashing across Wrench’s mask were blink-and-you-miss-it. “I thought you were dead, dude. If you had died, I’d have…” his voice faltered for a minute. “I’d have had to take on all of Bratva, all on my own. I was relieved I didn’t have to.”

Huh. Marcus hadn’t expected Wrench to suddenly clam up like that - he had just wanted to poke a little fun. “Admit it, you’d have missed me. You know you love me.” Although Wrench’s mask displayed his usual calm expression, Marcus had the feeling he was focusing on maintaining it. “Anyway. I want you to hug me like that again.”

He was expecting Wrench to make some kind of snarky comment, but the man sighed. “Fine. Get up.” When Marcus gave him a puzzled look, the eyes displayed changed to the two carats - his happy expression. “We’re doing this from the top, my friend.” With that, he turned back to his table, continuing to fiddle with whatever he had been making - or, more likely, destroying.

“This is ridiculous, Wrench.” No response. “Wrench.” Still no response. “Fine.” With a sigh that let Wrench know just what he thought of this, he stood up, taking a few steps closer. “Hey, Wrench.”

“Marcus!” Wrench gasped, turning to ensnare him in a hug just as tight as the one on that day - Marcus actually staggered a bit from the force, before chuckling and wrapping his arms around the other man. Just like before, Wrench rocked back and forth slightly, and Marcus allowed the swaying motion.

“Am I doing this right?” Although Marcus couldn’t see Wrench’s face, given the fact that it was buried in his shoulder, he knew the man would be winking right about now.

Marcus pretended to think for a moment. “Yeah, you’re doing just fine.”

Wrench pulled back slightly to gently punch his shoulder. “Don’t scare me like that, dude!”

Marcus couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “Couldn’t resist. Can we move this to the couch, though?”

“You- you want to still-?” Wrench’s tone was surprised. Then he patted Marcus on the back. “Sure. Let me grab the remote, though.” Without detangling himself from Marcus, he started to shuffle to the left, then stopped when Marcus wasn’t moving. “Teamwork, man! We gotta do this together.”

“Oh, is that what we’ve gotta do?” Marcus teased, but he moved to the left, coordinating with Wrench in what could almost have been considered a dance - albeit a very clumsy one. Once Wrench had successfully grasped the remote, he began to shuffle backwards, letting himself fall back on the couch and pulling Wrench down with him. The pressure on top of him was comforting, grounding him.

Although Wrench had seemed to be mildly hesitant at first, he didn’t hesitate now to flop across Marcus carelessly, his chin pressed into the curve of Marcus’s neck - his head tilted slightly to avoid poking Marcus with his mask’s spikes - and his left leg dangling over the edge of the couch. His left arm was extended out, pointing the remote at the wall of screens and clicking the change channel button repeatedly.

Marcus couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped him. “You can’t even see the screen from there, can you?”

“No, but I can hear it. So shh. I’m looking for the sci-fi channel.” Wrench chided him, and miraculously enough, he did manage to land on the right channel. A Star Trek rerun was playing, and Wrench immediately exclaimed, “oh, I love this episode!”

“You don’t even know what episode it is.”

“Of course I do! It’s, uh…” a long pause. “The one with Spock.”

“There are lots of ones with Spock.”

"Fuck off." Wrench's light tone revealed he wasn't really mad. After a beat of silence, he tilted his head up to glimpse the screen, and Marcus hurried to slap a hand over the eyes of the mask.

"No peeking, cheater."

"I wasn't peeking!" Wrench protested. "I was just... nah, you got me, I was peeking."

They continued chatting back and forth, and Marcus turned his head to gaze at the screen. Somewhere along the way they lapsed into silence, and stayed like that for the rest of the episode - and the next three episodes after that. Wrench occasionally broke the silence with a joke, but for the most part he seemed content to stay nuzzled into Marcus. Somewhere along the way, Marcus had found himself gently rubbing circles with his thumb into Wrench’s back. Wrench didn’t say anything about it, but Marcus felt him relax under the touch.

Finally, Wrench lifted his head to fix those digital eyes on Marcus's and said, “not that I’m not enjoying this - because I am, very much so - but do you need to… talk about something?”

Marcus was silent for a long time. “I just needed a hug.” He worried his lower lip between his teeth, debating on whether or not to say the next part. “I… I love Dedsec. I love making a difference. But Horatio is _dead_. And don’t tell me it’s not my fault,” he added when Wrench looked up. “And I could have died, too. Any one of us could die doing this. It’s- it’s just crazy, man. I never... I never realized we could die."

A few beats of silence, and Wrench said, “I promise I heard you, I’m just trying to think of something to say that’s not a joke.” Marcus laughed, and when he did he thought he saw hearts blink by on Wrench’s mask - just for a fraction of a second. “It really wasn’t your fault. _But_ I think the bigger thing here is…” he sighed. “We really appreciate you, Marcus. We all do. You're who really got this operation off of the ground. But if you really want to leave, it's okay. 'Cause I'm not gonna lie to you, there _is_ a real risk here. Don't interrupt me, Marcus-” broke off as Marcus opened his mouth to speak. “But I just want you to know I'll protect you if you stay. To the best of my ability, of course. I know you all think I'm a god - a sex god, to be specific, don't you roll your eyes at me, Marcus - but even I can't save you from everything.”

“You don't have to. I can pull my own weight, you know. I can!” he added when Wrench gave him a look he figured was meant to be incredulous. “But thank you. I- I don't think I'm gonna leave Dedsec. It's just all hitting me too hard tonight.”

“Yeah, we all have those nights, buddy.” Wrench's voice was distant for a moment. “But! That's why we have horrible comedies. Let's watch Austin Powers.” He clapped his hands together, disentangling himself from Marcus to stride over to the movie rack. “Gold Member or The Spy Who Shagged Me? And do know that your answer could make or break this budding relationship of ours.”

“Hmm… Gold Member?” Wrench's mask lit up with matching exclamation marks before being replaced by the carats.

“Good choice!” Once the disc had been popped in, Wrench flopped back down, X's replacing the carats when Marcus grunted in pain as Wrench's knee dug into his leg. “Sorry. You good?”

“I'm good. Here, move, trying to watch the screen like this hurts my neck.” Marcus shifted so that he was sitting more upright, and Wrench's head slid down to rest on his chest. The man's head was now turned, too, so that he could see the screen.

The movie was just as godawful as it had been the last time Marcus had seen it, but he found himself laughing at it anyway. Wrench seemed to be having just as much fun, cracking jokes every few minutes that somehow managed to be even worse than the ones in the movie.

And somewhere along the way, Marcus realized that he didn't feel as upset anymore - it still stung, and maybe it always would, but he was moving forward. He couldn't get stuck in the past, not when the present was waiting for him. Where things would go, he didn't know, and while it wasn’t like he could cure his feelings by spending time with Wrench, it was a relief to know that he had him and all his other friends to get him through it.


End file.
